Kansas group aims to boost hiring of disabled people

A newly created group aims to encourage employers to hire and retain workers with disabilities.

The Wichita Eagle reports that for Dave Phillips, that goal is both a personal and professional endeavor.

Phillips is the chairman of the Business Leadership Network of Sedgwick County. He is also is the director of restaurant marketing for Sasnak Management, the parent of Carlos O’Kelly’s restaurants. The company has agreed to be the start-up group’s lead employer.

Phillips says his son deals with developmental disabilities and has benefited from wonderful employers.

The group’s inaugural event Thursday is a luncheon featuring a presentation on providing employment to people with autism. Representatives from at least 10 major employers are expected to attend.
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Information from: The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle

Red Neck

August 26, 2013 at 8:47 am

I think the program will work if the jobs offered are not front line jobs in retail or the food industry. In my travels I have run into folks with severe disabilities running cash registers and checking people out at stores such as Wal-mart. I also encountered this in restaurants as well. Why anyone would subject a person with severe types of disabilities in these types of positions and dealing with the public many of whom have a hard time with dealing with people who are not disabled and subjecting them to verbal abuse is beyond me.